Arcadia High Graduate Killed in Suicide Bombing in Afghanistan

Mano “Paul” Kamaleson is survived by his wife and three children. – Courtesy photo / LinkedIn

By Terry Miller

An Arcadia High School graduate was among those killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, this week, his family said Wednesday.

Mano “Paul” Kamaleson, 55, had just returned to Kabul from a holiday break in Chicago with his family, where they lived before moving to Afghanistan, said his sister Ruth Loisel who lives in Arcadia.

Kamaleson was serving as the chief operating officer of The First MicroFinance Bank (FMFB-A) in Kabul, Afghanistan. He had joined the FMFB-A only in April last year.

Kamaleson received a bachelor’s in public administration from Azusa Pacific University and had an MBA in international finance from Claremont Graduate University.

On Monday, a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a vehicle in the Afghan capital, killing Kamaleson and three others, who were military personnel, and wounding at least 100 people, according to the Associated Press and a report in the Los Angeles Times. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Arcadia Unified School District released the following statement saying Kamaleson will always be an Apache:
“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with his wife Nicole, their three children, and his entire family, some of whom still live here in Arcadia. As we like to say, ‘Once an Apache, always an Apache.’ We are proud to say Paul was and always will be a member of the Apache and Arcadia Unified family. May he rest in peace.”

Kamaleson is survived by his wife, Nicole Martens Kamaleson. Mano’s sister Ruth Kamaleson Loisel works with World Vision, USA.

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